The extreme weather that has blighted Australia in recent weeks took a bizarre twist today as dozens of beachfront towns became submerged in up to four feet of sea foam.

Wave after wave of frothy suds, whipped up in storms as powerful waves force air into the water, surged onshore blanketing roads and parks and bringing entire towns to a standstill.

But while the rare lather brought hundreds of children out of their homes to play in its bubbles, the bad weather that spawned it also bore tragedy to the region as floodwaters continued to rise, forcing thousands of homeowners to flee for their lives.

Four people have died so far, including a three-year-old boy who was struck by a falling tree in gale force winds in Brisbane yesterday as he sheltered with his 34-year-old pregnant mother. She is understood to be in a critical condition with broken bones and head injuries.

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Having a bubble: Wave after wave of frothy suds, formed during storms when powerful waves force air into the water, washed up onto shore bringing children out to play in the bubbles

Surging suds: A solitary surfboard sits stranded in the sand in Alexandra Headland, Queensland, where the foam continued to rise

It gets everywhere: Nowhere in headland was safe from the froth as it covered streets and parks and even found its way into people's homes and garages

The Sunshine and Gold coasts have been pummelled by the low pressure system that was tropical cyclone Oswald in recent days, with six-metre swells reported in some areas.

‘Get out of your homes now or risk your lives if you stay,’ residents in several Queensland towns were warned as rivers overflowed their banks and quiet creeks became raging torrents powerful enough to carry away cars.

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Four people are dead,
another three are missing and thousands have been told to flee from
their homes as floodwaters, fuelled by lashing rain, gush down through
the eastern coast of Australia.

The body of a motorcyclist was pulled from the Oxley Creek, south
of Brisbane, today after he was swept away while trying to ride through the
current.

The other deaths,
on Sunday, are those of an 81-year-old man whose body was found in the
water near Bundaberg and a 27-year old man who tried to cross a flooded
creek near the town of Gympie.

Frothy white: Burleigh Heads, Queensland, was also one of the coastal towns completely submerged by the rare phenomenon

Bizarre weather: The Sunshine and Gold coasts have been pummelled by the low pressure system that was tropical cyclone Oswald in recent days, with six-metre swells reported in some areas

At least three other people remain unaccounted for today.

Patients
have been evacuated from the ground floor of a hospital in the
badly-hit town of Bundaberg, north of Brisbane, where Queensland premier
Campbell Newman said today that there was ‘a very real prospect’ of
houses being swept away.

As the level of the Burnett River in
Bundaberg rose to 9m – and was still rising - Mr Newman said a
‘significant number’ of people in 2000 homes were about to be trapped
and warned: ‘If you can get out safely now – do it!’

Last night the town, located 240
miles north of Brisbane, had become an island, with floodwaters cutting
off every road leading into the city, leaving no way in or out except by
boat or helicopter.

Dramatic rescue: Army helicopters have been brought in to help lift people trapped on their rooftops

Overdrive: As hundreds of distress calls came in for people wanting to be rescued, emergency services in Queensland and New South Wales were stretched to the limit

Australian Defence Force helicopters
were despatched to the city, officially described as a disaster area, to
pick up all 131 patients at Bundaberg Hospital – 67 of whom require
wheelchairs and another 28 on stretchers – and fly them to Brisbane.

Officials said the city of 45,000 was facing its worst flood on record.

In Brisbane, world-famous riverside
restaurants were under serious threat of flooding as Queensland police
declared the city a disaster area – and that was before the worst of the
floods sweeping down from the north had reached the city.

Sydney was also bracing itself for massive rainstorms and winds powerful enough to bring down trees and power poles.

Police warned people to stay off the roads unless travel by car was essential.

Thousands
of travellers, many of whom are trying to make their way home after a
rain-soaked Australia Day long weekend, have been left stranded as roads
became flooded and flights to and from many parts of Queensland were
cancelled because of ferocious winds.

In Brisbane: Three people are already dead, another three are missing and thousands have been told to flee from their homes as floodwaters, fuelled by lashing rain, gush down through the eastern coast of Australia

Tweed Heads, New South Wales: Thousands of travellers, many of whom are trying to make their way home after a rain-soaked Australia Day long weekend

A
P&O cruiser liner, the Pacific Jewel, due to berth in Sydney
tomorrow, has been told to remain at sea until the wild coastal weather
dies down.

Throughout most
of the southern part of Queensland families were placed on alert, either
fleeing the rising floodwaters or doing what they could to protect
their properties by piling up sandbanks around them as the waters
approached.

It
is believed that the wild seas smashing into the coast were responsible
for a mother pygmy sperm whale and her calf becoming separated and
being washed up on a beach near Coffs Harbour in northern New South
Wales.

Rising tides: A family in a boat negotiate flood water and debris in the town of Bundaberg, Queensland. There, an 81-year-old man's body was found in the water on Sunday and a 27-year old man died trying to cross a flooded creek

Wading to safety: Geraldine Marino and her husband Paul Taylor use a small boat to get through flood waters surrounding their house in Bundaberg, Queensland, left, while Evan McAlpine smokes a cigarette as he assists his mother Nola, 76, through floodwaters in Newmarket, right

Shelter: Foreign backpackers take shelter at an evacuation centre in Bundaberg. Flights to and from many parts of Queensland were cancelled because of ferocious winds

Helping hand: Roger Barnes rescues a friend's surfboard from a flooded home in the inner Brisbane suburb of Newmarket

Doing what they can: Throughout most of the southern part of Queensland families were placed on alert, either fleeing the rising floodwaters or doing what they could to protect their properties by piling up sandbanks around them as the waters approached

The animals were so distressed that National parks and Wildlife officials had no choice but to euthanaise them

In the Lismore and Tweed region of northern New South Wales rescues were under way to save people trapped in cars that were stranded on flooded roads.

As hundreds of distress calls came in for people wanting to be rescued, emergency services in Queensland and New South Wales were stretched to the limit. Army helicopters have been brought in to help lift people trapped on their rooftops.

Winds of 70mph brought down trees, one falling on a pregnant 30-year-old woman who was standing with a child near a creek in the north of Brisbane. Although the child escaped serious injury, the woman is believed to sustained a broken leg and head injuries.

On the Queensland Gold Coast the beach-side Miami Hotel was evacuated after the roof was torn off by the wind – and part of the roof of the Tweed Heads Hospital, a few miles to the south, was also ripped away.

The problems in Queensland and New South Wales have been caused by the weakening Cyclone Oswald, which is not expected to move back out to sea until the middle of this week.

VIDEO Its a wave, its a wave...oh no it isn't! Onlookers get big surprise looking at Australian sea foam